REIXACH, Juan
(active 1431-1484 in Valencia)

Biography

Spanish painter of Catalan origin. He was one of the most important fifteenth-century painters in Valencia. His work, while firmly Spanish, contains elements from other artistic centers in Europe, particularly Flanders.

Reixach worked in the Valencia region in close collaboration with Jacomart, the court painter of King Alfonso V of Aragon, probably finishing some altarpieces left incomplete by Jacomart and working with him on certain commissions. It is, however, difficult to distinguish which of the joint works are by Reixach. Documents suggest that he produced about 20 works on his own account, although their correspondence to surviving paintings is uncertain. The discovery of the altarpiece of St Ursula (Barcelona, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya), signed and dated 1468 (seven years after Jacomart's death), has provided an opportunity to assess Reixach's style. Around this work can be grouped the altarpieces of St Catherine (1448) in the parish church at Villahermosa (Castellon), the Adoration of the Magi (Barcelona, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya) and St Martin in Segorbe Cathedral (1447 or 1457); a predella of the Passion (Valencia, Museo S Pius V); two predella scenes (private collection); St Michael Weighing Souls (Reggio Emilia, Museo Civico), the Visitation and St Peter in S María la Mayor, Morella, and the Virgin and Child with Angels (Pasadena, Norton Simon Museum). These works demonstrate by their attention to detail, such as the armour and the decoration of clothing or the minutiae of urban landscapes, that Reixach was acquainted with Netherlandish painting. His dense compositions, with many figures portrayed in expressive poses, were enriched by the use of lively, contrasting colours.